Daily Encouragements

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Monthly Archives: February 2017

As His children, we’re given a high honor and privilege of being channels of God’s glory.

Not all we do bring glory to our God. Through us, God can either be praised or cursed.

We can have better chances of channeling peoples praise towards God if we’re not involved in works of darkness. It is when we let our light shine before others that they’re able to see God in us—how good and great He is. That’s how those in darkness are drawn to the Light.

God is Holy, loving, mighty. We’re not necessarily the same. It’s when those are seen in us that people see the reality that’s not us—a reality that’s attractive and magnetic, a reality that’s bigger than us, a reality that sincerely-seeking people want to be a part of.

God is essentially glorious. He isn’t always given His du—often because others aren’t just conscientious or aware. We as people in whom He dwells can bring the truth of God’s glory closer and clearer to the people.

Our lives shine; there’s no life more beautiful and radiant than that which glows with God’s beauty.

We know our worth in Him, that’s why we don’t desire glory to ourselves. We’re the pointers not the destination of praise.

Deuteronomy 10:12 (KJV) 12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul

There’s a difference between fearing people and fearing God. We don’t fear people; we fear God.

It’s not demeaning to fear Him Who created all things, in control of all things, and Who not only can do something with our bodies, but has control over our souls’ destiny.

To fear God, to walk in a way that pleases Him, to love Him and to serve Him with our all—these may sound so hard, but if we really think about it, they’re really very doable. We just have to want to.

Reality: Christian life is not just hard; it’s impossible—if we depend upon our own power. But our precious Lord Who expects us to live for Him also empowers us to do so.

Because we fear Him, we want to live in such a way that will please Him, because we love Him, we serve Him. Not everyone who tries to please God really fears Him. Not everyone who serves Him really loves Him.

Fearing, pleasing, loving, and serving God is a privilege. He doesn’t need them. We do. He existed in perfection without us. They’re ultimately for our best.

All things are from Him, trough Him, and for Him. He also spared no expense for our pardon and salvation. That’s the reason why we do what’s appropriate: serving God with no less than all our heart and our souls, humbly acknowledging that even with that, He deserves infinitely more.

As believers, there are times when we get overwhelmed with sorrow, deep distress, and troubles. We’re real people with real emotions. But we don’t allow ourselves to get paralyzed by them.

People can betray us; we can’t stop them no matter how hard we try if they’re absolutely determined to doing so. We can’t control them, but we control ourselves. We do what we need to do. We move on.

More often than not, it’s a waste of time trying to justify ourselves when we’re not in an official trial. It has been repeatedly said: “In most cases, it’s easier to build than to repair.” So, we keep on with our journey: regardless of people’s take on it, we do what’s good, right, and godly.

There are people we can’t convince no matter how obvious the proofs and how numerous the evidences. Some enjoy being biased; some choose to be blind because doing so caters to what they enjoy believing—no matter how flawed. We let them be; we pray for them, and we keep living in and pursuing the light of truth.

When God asks us to face our own cross, no matter how hard, no matter how sad, we don’t have double thoughts about it. We have a choice, but as believers, we choose only one: obedience.

We do what we need to do when we can do something about a situation. Otherwise, we accept it; we learn from it; we find ways and means to grow and be stronger from/in it.

Deuteronomy 2:25 (KJV) 25This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

There is a day for our miracle. Fully believe, patiently wait.

When God says it’s time, He will move people and nations, and if need be, heaven and earth, to bring about His plan for us—His people.

We’ve learned: God doesn’t violate our free will. How can He cause dread and fear in the hearts of people while preserving that principle? How can He direct a king’s heart like a watercourse to bring it to His expected end? Does He do it by orchestrating the course of nature and turn of events? Probably; those things don’t have free will to violate. We may not fully understand all of the divine dynamics, but this one thing is sure: with God, all things are possible.

Did you hear that? Cheer up; yes, God can always make things happen for us.

We have people who consider us as their enemies. We love them. If we’re faithful in our calling, our enemies can’t deny us our destiny. God’s in control of that. He can stop them, remove them from our path, cause them to respect us, or simply turn them into friends.

Why can we live without worry? It’s because our God is awesome in power, perfect in wisdom, and is constantly with us. We know He does whatever needs to be done to whatever situation and whoever is involved; we know His timing is impeccable; we know He’s with us through the entire process: beginning, waiting, and winning.

Two things “alone” are enough to awaken others to reality of our wonderful life: Who the God is Who is in us, and who we are in God. The first focuses on how awesome God is, the other focuses on how awesome God makes us and our lives to be. Heheyyy.

Mark 9:28 (KJV) 28And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

With all the intimacy the disciples had with the Lord Jesus, there were still some things they did not know and some things they could not do.

Even in a saints’ most spiritual state, Jesus is still set apart so highly from us, we will be in continuous process of learning from Him.

Just because we’re unable to accomplish what we need to accomplish doesn’t mean we’re not living up to our call and duty as believers; we’re just presented with new opportunities of learning, higher levels to attain, more understanding of our Lord’s words, will, and ways.

It’s okay to ask the Lord questions; many times, the most spiritual thing we can do is to ask questions.

There’s a huge difference between asking the Lord questions and questioning Him.

When we succeed in something other believers don’t succeed in; it doesn’t mean we’re more spiritual than them; it may just be because we cover the area needed to succeed in a specific situation, and they cover another area where they succeed in and we won’t.

We’re not disappointed when there are some things we haven’t yet learned or areas we’re not gifted with because we have already been taught many things and we’ve been given gifts in many areas.

Just because we can be rude to those we love doesn’t mean rudeness or inappropriate behavior, conduct, or manners are acceptable expressions or acts of love.

Our actions neither defines nor justifies what true love is. Love is a standard through which our actions are measured.

Love has desires and expectations, but it never insists or forces.

When our expectations aren’t met, we often get irritated, annoyed, or provoked. Love says no to all these.

The more people fail to live up to our expectations, the more our love is challenged, the more opportunities we have to show how real our love is. This is magnified if they fail not only to live up to our expectations but when they literally do us wrong.

When those we love wrong us, we’d choose to erase rather than to record.